“I know we just won the World Cup. But what we really want to know is what are Carson’s Top 10 movies of the year???”
It’s the final post of the year!
Yes, after this, I will be heading deep into the Scriptshadow caves to plot the ongoing goings-ons of 2023.
But before we get there, we must give 2022 its last dab by celebrating the best movies of the year (you can see my ‘worst movies of the year’ list here). It’s been a transitory year for the industry. Studios seem to be confused about what the masses actually want. And the indie outfits are watching helplessly as their films start their runs in hospice care. Justice for storytelling.
Despite this, there were some really good movies in 2022, even if Quentin Tarantino called it the worst decade of movies in history. Some notables that didn’t make today’s list include Deadstream, Smile, Emily the Criminal, Cha Cha Real Smooth, and X. Movies that I still haven’t seen yet include The Woman King, The Banshees of Inishirin, The Menu, The Fablemans, Aftersun, Knives Out 2, Babylon, and The Whale, most of which I’ll catch soon.
This is one of the most offbeat Top 10s I can remember putting together. The movies really run the gamut. Prepare yourselves… for the best films of 2022!
10 – Triangle of Sadness – I struggled long and hard about whether to put this movie into my top 10 or Emily The Criminal. In the end, I chose this because it’s so unlike any movie you’ll see this year. The “triangle of sadness,” by the way, refers to a term in the modeling industry regarding the three points between your eyes and nose. When they’re too scrunched up, it makes you look sad. Triangle of Sadness doesn’t do as good of a job as The White Lotus at satirizing rich people. But it has some gonzo scenes, such as the drawn-out 12 minute argument between two models about whether a woman should ever pay for dinner. There’s a lack of connectivity to the narrative that’s frustrating at times (we’re all of a sudden on a yacht yet no one tells us how we got there). It’s probably going to piss you off occasionally but the movie is guaranteed to stay with you. It’s worth checking out.
9 – Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers – Natural transition, right? One of the artiest movies of the year to an animated studio film! But don’t be fooled by Chip and Dale’s shiny exterior. This is the best deconstruction of an animated film, maybe, ever. It’s like Who Framed Roger Rabbit on steroids. And if you have any doubts about what I’m pitching here, this film comes from the Lonely Island crew – Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer. Those guys aren’t going to sign on to an animated film unless they can do something different with it. And that they do! One of those wonderful surprises where you turn it on, expecting to give up after five minutes, only to watch the entire thing.
8 – The Night House – If you’re like me, a red-blooded human being, you love Rebecca Hall. I recently watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona again for my dialogue book and Hall is excellent in it. Her only weakness is that she often plays the same character. But that doesn’t hurt this movie. The Night House follows a woman whose husband mysteriously committed suicide and she visits the old summer house they owned and starts to receive messages from the other side. Her dead husband seems to be trying to tell her something. And when she starts looking into his life, she discovers there are things about him that she never knew. This is “headier” than your average ghost movie. So it’s not for the “Smile” crowd. But if you like genre stuff that’s more adult-themed, this fits the bill.
7 – Barbarian – When I reviewed this, I said it had the best first act of the year. I stand by that. The first act is amazing. So much so that it’s disappointing the rest of the film doesn’t live up to it. But there’s something to be said about a film that is determined to get crazier and crazier as it goes on. I mean where else are you going to find a 6 foot 5 inch naked beast woman running around deserted Detroit suburbia killing anything she can find? I also love Justin Long leaning into his despicableness. Who doesn’t want to watch (spoiler) Justin Long suffer an agonizing death? Biggest WTF movie of the year. Constantly keeps you guessing.
6 – Hustle – How good is Adam Sandler when he tries? This is a huge part of the reason why Sandler has such a heated hater fanbase. It’s because we all know how awesome he can be when he puts in the effort. And this is the perfect role for him. Washed up, overlooked coach who puts everything on the line for some no-name basketball prospect from another country. I didn’t think you could do traditional sports movies anymore. The genre is too cliched. But you’ll note that one of the ways Hustle avoided getting too cliche was it didn’t have “the big game.” The climax, instead, is a workout. That alone made this feel different. But the real pillars of this film are Sandler and the guy who plays the recruit. It’s like a double-dose of underdog. I love films that make you feel good afterwards. This achieved that more than any other film on the list except my number one film.
5 – Avatar: The Way of Water – It’s been a week now since I saw the film, allowing me some perspective. My feelings remain the same. The film needed a main character. Jake Sulley was clearly the main character in Avatar 1. Who knows who the main character is here. The reason that matters is that the audience feels emotionally detached from a film in which they don’t have a guide. That really hurts the film. On the flip side, I’ve never been to another planet in any movie that’s felt this real. It’s weird because, on the character front, Cameron makes a mistake that keeps you at a distance. But on the technical front, he creates a world that feels as real as the one you’re living on. It all adds up to a strong movie that leaves the slightest bad taste in your mouth because you were hoping it would achieve ‘great’ status.
4 – The Worst Person in the World – What’s funny about this tiny Norwegian film is that it has something in common with Avatar 2, which is that I felt like I was in Oslo as I was watching the film. You wouldn’t think I would like a film like this. There seems to be nothing in the way of a plot. The main character is wishy-washy. But one thing film can do that screenwriting cannot is take you somewhere. And if you like that somewhere – and the director does a great job of enhancing it with cinematography and score – you’ll overlook a lot of story problems. Something about this movie and the way it covered a lost soul spoke to me in a way I can’t quite articulate. I just know that when I watched the film, it stirred something up. And isn’t that what it’s all about?
3 – Thirteen Lives – By far, the most underrated movie of the year. I hear no one talking about it. I don’t know if that’s because it was released by Amazon or what. This film had so much for going it, the most shocking of which was that Ron Howard left his schmaltzy storytelling crutch behind and, for once, let the truth be the focus. Maybe that’s why it didn’t resonate more. It was too realistic for people. But I’ll never forget the way these divers came up with this impossible solution for saving the kids, accepting the fact that there were going to have to kill some of them, but did the rescue anyway because it was better than leaving them all to die. I think the best movies put the characters in such a perilous situation that the audience wonders what they would do if they were in that position. And that’s where my head was at this whole movie. What would I do if I was one of those divers? Because there wasn’t a single simple solution to the rescue.
2 – Everything Everywhere All At Once – I saw somebody trashing this movie in the comments section yesterday. And I don’t begrudge them. The movie is so weird and makes so many odd choices, that there’s no way it doesn’t alienate some people. I mean, at one point, there’s a three minute scene with two rocks talking to each other. No matter how good your movie is, not everyone’s going to be on board with that. I tell you guys all the time that I like writers who take risks. But when push comes to shove, we’re all too afraid to truly take risks. We always revert back to the safety of our traditional choices. The Daniels are the only people in Hollywood making legitimately crazy choices and seeing where they take the story. And I think what makes it work is that, in the end, they have a traditional approach to character development. They give their characters flaws – like the mother giving up on her family – and then they arc that character over the course of the story. That dedication to character is what holds these wild choices together. This movie made nearly 70 million dollars at the box office which is insane. It’s the kind of arthouse fair that would normally make 10 million if it was lucky. Goes to show what an amazing job the Daniels did. I expect this film to be the belle of the Oscar ball.
1 – Top Gun: Maverick – How bout this? The director of my least favorite movie of the year, Joseph Kosinski, is also the director of my favorite movie of the year. If that isn’t proof that nobody knows anything, I don’t know what is. Top Gun 2 is bigger than just one movie. Not only did it make everybody feel good at a time when we all desperately needed to feel good. It was a reminder to Hollywood to lighten up. All my friends who never go to the movies saw Top Gun 2 so I asked them, why did you see this film over all the other movies that came out this year? And they said, “Cause it looked fun and it looked light.” When I pressed them on it, they said that movies out there are all too serious these days. They pointed to Black Panther and Eternals. These are Marvel films that people are complaining are too serious! If there’s a lesson to Top Gun, it’s to start making movies again that bring everybody together rather divide them. How crazy is it that a Top Gun film became the most important movie of the year? Joseph Kosinski recently stated, “There were a million ways this movie could’ve gone wrong and one tiny way it could go right.” It’s safe to say he found the right way.
SCRIPT CONSULTATION DISCOUNT 150! – I’ve got a couple of screenplay consultation slots open for the end of 2022. If you’re interested, e-mail me with the subject line, “CHRISTMAS 150,” and I’ll take $150 off my regular rate. If you’re never had notes from a professional before, I would strongly recommend taking this opportunity to do so. I can help you identify and fix things in your writing that would otherwise take you years to learn on your own. Not to mention, elevate your current script. So if you want to get a consult, e-mail me at carsonreeves1@gmail.com. I do features, pilots, first acts, short films, loglines, whatever you need me for!
MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!
